Sudanese opposition parties are threatening to boycott their country's first multiparty election in a quarter century, AP reported. Over a dozen northern opposition parties meet Wednesday to consider the boycott after their calls for postponing the April 11 vote were ignored. The opposition maintains that overwhelming government control of the media and election monitoring bodies as well as biased legislation make a fair vote impossible. The junior government party, the southern Sudan People's Liberation Party, said it would back the opposition's decision. The elections are a crucial step in the 2005 north-south peace deal and paves the way for a referendum when southerners would decide whether they will opt for secession from the Muslim-dominated north. -- SPA
